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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you were about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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Richard mins was a flashy bodybuilding
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billionaire who always got what he
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wanted in 1977 he set his sights on
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Barbara Petrovsky a former beauty queen
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from California three years later in
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their love affair disintegrated and
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Barbara descended into a personal hell
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which culminated in a brutal attack four
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years
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Katherine Bennett lived in virtual
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seclusion apparently on the edge of
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poverty when she died she left behind a
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past shrouded in mystery an estate worth
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more than 125,000 dollars perhaps
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someone watching tonight is a rightful
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heir also we update you on the unusual
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case of a Canadian man who disappeared
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1987 thanks to our broadcast he has
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finally been located reunited with his
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family join me
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perhaps you solve a mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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Johnny Smith of Irvine California is a
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registered nurse a marathon racer and a
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new bride she is also paralyzed the
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chest down the result of a brutal attack
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[Music]
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15 years ago Jani had another name
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Barbara Petrovsky and another life she
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was a beauty queen and a straight-a
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pre-med student
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in 1977 she became involved in a
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passionate obsessive love affair with a
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man twice her age by 1979 that love
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affair began a self-destruct
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Barbara Petrovsky found herself and
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brought in a bitter dispute with her
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former lover Richard men's men's a
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multi-millionaire from Texas was a
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one-man Barbara had loved
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unconditionally the man whose child she
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had carried the man who had promised her
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a bright and limitless future incredibly
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she is certain that the attack which
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left her paralyzed was a murder attempt
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and that Richard mins was responsible
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they met in January of 1977 on the ski
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slopes of Aspen Colorado
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Barbara Petrovsky was just 23 and
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admittedly naive
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Richard mins was 47 a sophisticated
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smooth-talking chameleon who could
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adjust to any situation
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Richard mins when he first approached me
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was very loud and belligerent he was
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dressed very loudly and a bright
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fluorescent yellow ski suit he was
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bragging about what a great guy he was
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and we when he saw how that affected me
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he just very very quickly changed his
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persona and was very quiet
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charming almost seemed a little shy and
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eventually I did not only I didn't just
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fall in love with him I fell head over
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heels in love with him
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Richard mins was anything but shy he was
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a dedicated flamboyant bodybuilder who
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had made millions from a chain of
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upscale health spas based in Texas men's
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was a man who always got what he wanted
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and he wanted barber but the two most
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beautiful moments you don't in last four
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months within three months Barbra
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Petrovsky had moved from Los Angeles to
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Houston to live with Richard min he
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hired her as a model for his health spas
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lab Easter with attention and in general
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made her the center of his life men's
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even bragged that his contacts
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guaranteed Barbara a spot in Medical
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School
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it was incredibly romantic and it was
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too good to be true you know things like
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this don't happen in real life they
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happen in a story they happen in a movie
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but they don't happen to you and I felt
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so incredibly lucky and we seemed to
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have a very good relationship certainly
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it was magical so there was no
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indication whatsoever in the beginning
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that there was anything that was really
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[Music]
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my husband is in your house and I want
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to see him right now I know he's here I
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saw his car Richard mins and neglected
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to tell Barbara one small detail he was
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married at that point he explained to me
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that he had loved me so much that he
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knew if he had admitted that he was not
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divorced that I never would have
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consented to come to Houston and that he
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loved me so much that he would have done
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anything he would have even compromised
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his own integrity and lie to me because
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he loved me so much that he wanted to
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convince me to come to Houston to be
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with him and he explained that he was
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legally separated but not divorced after
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a short break up Barbra decided to
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accept Richard's explanation and his
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peace offering a townhouse for the two
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of them to share to prove his devotion
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mins even gay Barbara papers dating at
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the townhouse and his contents belong to
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her he really didn't want me to be
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working for anyone other than him this
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was his way of dealing with that was by
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giving me every assurance that these
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were things I didn't have to worry about
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that instead I should concentrate on our
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relationship on finishing my own
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education and not worrying about holding
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down a job that wouldn't pay me nearly
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what he could make in a day six months
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later Barbara discovered that Richard
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mins was not legally separated in May of
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1978 his wife filed for divorce after
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she found out about the townhouse
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arrangement
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when dick was going through his divorce
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he just became a completely different
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person and it was something that really
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shocked me it really appalled me
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suddenly I saw a very paranoid violent
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side of his personality
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Blaine school you think that has
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something to do with economics don't
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worry about it ah Richard mins temper
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became worse and worse especially after
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the divorce settlement was finalized his
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wife who built the health spa business
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with him was awarded nearly 6 million
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dollars at around the same time Barbara
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had discovered she was pregnant men
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suddenly put his plans to marry her on
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Holi all right I told you that aborting
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no
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[Music]
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maybe couches definitely yeah no not the
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piano or the clock
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Barbara feared for herself and her
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unborn child in a panic she decided to
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move out Barbara took almost everything
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in her house at the time that I decided
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to leave my emotional state was one of
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complete confusion I didn't know if I
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was doing the right thing
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I didn't want to be doing what I was
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doing I really didn't want at this point
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even I still didn't want to leave him
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leave him it was as if I was tearing
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myself away from part of myself I was
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ripping my own arm off when Barbara
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moved out of the townhouse she took all
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of the furniture in the townhouse with
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her some of these eyes Suzanne fenced
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and spent more than three years
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researching and writing sleeping with
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the devil a book which pieces together
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the complex story of Richard and Barbara
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for which she did this thinking she
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needed to do something to jolt him
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because she'd moved out several other
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times and the relationship had pretty
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much remained the same and she felt she
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needed to get his attention in a very
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dramatic way which unfortunately she did
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[Music]
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Barbara Barbara went into hiding Richard
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Mills was furious he had lost his wife
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and half his fortune now Barbara he had
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called his sister begging her to have me
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come meet him
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on a particular evening and even though
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I knew that it was a big mistake I felt
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as if I had to at least see what he had
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to say
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when Barbara arrived at Rich's hotel he
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wasn't there hoping they could work
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something out she waited in the hallway
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until well after midnight
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[Music]
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come on Barbara
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I can see didn't take you very long
00:11:04
Barbara wait that's on wait a ducky I
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wanted you to put me away Barbara he
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grabbed me first forcibly and wouldn't
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believe and then while he held me
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forcibly begged me to just come in and
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talk so that we keep still loved me we
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had a lot to talk about that somehow or
00:11:23
another if we just sat down and talked
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that we could work things out
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so he brought me into his suite and we
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started to talk a little bit okay
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put his arms around me was telling me
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how much he loved me and all of a sudden
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the door burst open it was the police
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threw me from his arms toward them and
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said take her you have a warrant for her
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arrest
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boy you mine she stole my jewelry stole
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my shotgun Barbara had been set up mens
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had used his connections to obtain a
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warrant for her arrest
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one of his associates had called the
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police are you gonna take her away what
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are we standing here talking tell me
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let's do my job it's a valid warrant
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signed by chose it's not true Richard
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[Music]
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what he did to me that night I was like
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taking a knife and just ripping my heart
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straight open but believe it or not even
00:12:33
after what he did that night I was still
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in love with him
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four and a half hours later at daybreak
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Barbara was visited by a police
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detective Barbara Barr Bukowski I don't
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train you okay know about smoke thank
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you
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listen Barbara I heard about your case
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and I thought I'd come down here see if
00:13:00
I couldn't give you a hand oh if you'll
00:13:03
settle up with dig man's we can forget
00:13:04
about this whole thing
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what are you talking about I've got a
00:13:08
little piece of paper here read this you
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sign it
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we might slate clean yeah dear tonight
00:13:16
the detective carried a statement which
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he said Richard mins wanted Barbara to
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sign that I never knew Richard means
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that I never had a relationship with him
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and I'm not carrying his child
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no gonna sign up some money in there for
00:13:30
you no it's lies
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think about it I have okay then
00:13:43
Barbara Petroski was formally charged
00:13:45
with felony grand theft and aggravated
00:13:48
assault because she had slapped at
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Richard men's with her purse in the
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hotel less than 36 hours later Barbara
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miscarried she told her doctors but not
00:13:58
Richard men's I think that dick mens got
00:14:03
the arrest warrant got the attention of
00:14:05
the authorities because of who he was
00:14:09
because it's always been my opinion that
00:14:12
the District Attorney's Office would
00:14:14
never take any charge unless they felt
00:14:17
that they could make a prima facie case
00:14:20
and get a conviction and I felt when I
00:14:24
reviewed these facts that this would be
00:14:27
an easy case to defend have you been up
00:14:30
and you been to the door Barbara was
00:14:33
released and again went into hiding to
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be here in a second you asked me to do a
00:14:37
job I did a job earlier min's had hired
00:14:39
a private investigator named Dudley Bell
00:14:42
who was notorious for operating on the
00:14:44
edge of the law Bell had no trouble
00:14:47
finding Barbara and the police were
00:14:49
close behind on April 17th 1980 to
00:14:55
Houston Police detectives served Barbara
00:14:58
with a search warrant Barbara was about
00:15:06
to find out that's Richard engineer the
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Richard men's put the furniture in
00:15:37
storage
00:15:37
he continued to demand that Barbara's
00:15:40
sign papers promising never to sue him
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he wanted a finality of their
00:15:46
relationship and he wanted in writing
00:15:48
and he wanted the peace of mind I guess
00:15:50
in his that he considered was necessary
00:15:54
for him to
00:15:55
go on without any concerns about her
00:15:58
instituting any litigation with respect
00:16:00
to of marriage or paternity Barbara
00:16:06
Petrovsky's fairytale romance with
00:16:08
Richard men had disintegrated into a
00:16:10
nightmare
00:16:11
[Music]
00:16:14
I had been told by people who knew him
00:16:18
well that he was so embarrassed and
00:16:20
angry that I had left him that he had to
00:16:24
teach me a lesson and that he had to
00:16:26
teach everyone else a lesson I told her
00:16:28
to be careful to not be alone to watch
00:16:32
what she did and where she went
00:16:34
unfortunately no safeguard is enough if
00:16:38
someone's after you they can find a way
00:16:40
to get you finally on October 20th 1980
00:16:49
Barbara's love affair with Richard mends
00:16:51
reached his violent climax in the
00:16:53
parking lot of a Houston donut shop as I
00:17:02
was getting back into my car a black man
00:17:05
approached me I knew I knew immediately
00:17:08
what was going to happen it was
00:17:10
essentially the moment that I had been
00:17:12
afraid of
00:17:13
[Music]
00:17:18
barbra Petrovsky was shot four times and
00:17:21
left for dead
00:17:22
the bullets collapsed her lungs and
00:17:25
severed her spinal cord leaving her
00:17:27
paralyzed from the chest down initially
00:17:33
it seemed that barbara Petrovsky was a
00:17:35
victim of a random street crime nothing
00:17:38
could have been further from the truth
00:17:40
miraculously on the night of the attack
00:17:42
Barbour never lost consciousness on
00:17:45
paramedics asked who was responsible she
00:17:48
gave the name of her former lover
00:17:49
Richard mins within minutes of the
00:17:54
shooting two small-time hood from
00:17:56
California Nathaniel ivory and Patrick's
00:17:58
team were arrested for attempted murder
00:18:01
he had to do a lot of time under
00:18:04
interrogation they were closed mouth and
00:18:06
gave no support to Barbara's contention
00:18:08
that Richard mins was involved I don't
00:18:11
know man oh no then the following night
00:18:16
detectives met with one of Richard mins
00:18:18
former bodyguards oh no the man refused
00:18:22
to go public but claimed that one month
00:18:24
earlier a contract had been put out on
00:18:26
Barbara's wife ten grand
00:18:29
by whom deadly
00:18:32
Dudley group come on how many delis do
00:18:36
you know Doug LaBelle Kim so whose
00:18:41
deadly Bell worked for works for Richard
00:18:43
means
00:18:44
[Music]
00:18:46
so that Richard mins
00:18:49
offer you the money no man
00:18:52
Dudley did Dudley works for Richard one
00:18:55
plus one equals two men the next day
00:19:00
police learned that a California trucker
00:19:02
named Robert Jess Anderson owned a
00:19:04
getaway car used by Steen and ivory a
00:19:08
guy named Anderson Harris Bob Anson
00:19:13
Steen and ivory were questioned again
00:19:15
they identified Robert Jess Anderson as
00:19:18
the man who had hired them to kill
00:19:20
Barbara canapés then he came gun and
00:19:25
said it would be better if she was dead
00:19:29
the following day Dudley Bell's ex-wife
00:19:32
gave police a note which seemed to
00:19:34
connect Richard millions in Dudley Bell
00:19:36
with Robert Jess Anderson the note
00:19:39
printed and Dudley bells own hand was on
00:19:42
Richard mins hotel stationery a list of
00:19:45
guns which later turned out to belong to
00:19:47
Robert Jess Anderson was on the back on
00:19:53
October 28 1988 days after Barbara had
00:19:56
been shot police arrested Robert Jess
00:19:59
Anderson the charges of conspiring to
00:20:01
commit a murder what is your
00:20:05
relationship with Patrick Steen and
00:20:07
Nathaniel ivory relationship I mean I
00:20:10
don't know from no relationship I mean
00:20:12
you throw these names at me I don't know
00:20:14
make relationships with what I had the
00:20:17
fact they have confessed they have
00:20:19
implicated you they were apprehended
00:20:21
while driving your car it all boils down
00:20:23
to one thing mr. Anderson is we've got
00:20:27
you their testimony and other evidence
00:20:30
is that strong I happen to be in a
00:20:33
position to cut you a deal to where you
00:20:38
were more than likely not serving at any
00:20:40
time at all for this crime if you'll
00:20:43
cooperate with me and give me the
00:20:44
information that I want to know
00:20:49
we solicited at that time his
00:20:51
cooperation because the information we
00:20:53
had in this particular case certainly
00:20:56
indicated that there were people far
00:20:57
above Robert J Sanderson that were
00:20:59
involved we felt that it was necessary
00:21:01
to get his assistance to try to move up
00:21:05
that ladder
00:21:07
Dudley's private eye you know he was
00:21:09
working for this guy Anderson confirmed
00:21:11
that it was Dudley Bell who had hired
00:21:13
ex-wife Anderson also admitted that he
00:21:15
interned and approached Steen and I
00:21:17
agree to make the hit but he said he
00:21:20
called it off in the end
00:21:22
Anderson suspected Dudley Bell was
00:21:24
working for Richard mists but he had no
00:21:26
proof despite Anderson's cooperation the
00:21:32
DA claimed he simply did not have enough
00:21:34
evidence to indict either Dudley Bell or
00:21:36
Richard mins in fact throughout the
00:21:39
entire investigation min's was never
00:21:42
questioned once amazingly he continued
00:21:47
to press a theft case against Barbara
00:21:49
she appeared in court on November 17th
00:21:52
1980 less than one month after the
00:21:54
shooting which means now insisted
00:21:56
Barbara's new attorney at stage as a
00:21:58
publicity stunt mr. Darren I understand
00:22:02
you have a motion to present today
00:22:04
yes your honor we'd like for you to rule
00:22:06
on our motion to suppress I was shot I
00:22:09
was paralyzed I was sitting in the
00:22:10
wheelchair he wasn't being questioned he
00:22:14
wasn't being indicted neither were any
00:22:17
of the other people who were involved
00:22:18
yet here I was sitting in a courtroom my
00:22:21
first trip out of the hospital facing
00:22:23
theft charges that he had fabricated
00:22:27
I have your motion Barbara would never
00:22:30
get the chance to prove that she was
00:22:32
innocent
00:22:33
the theft charges were dropped on a
00:22:35
technicality involving the search
00:22:37
warrant
00:22:41
on March 30th 1981 Nathaniel ivory and
00:22:44
Patrick's team were convicted of
00:22:46
attempted murder
00:22:47
each was sentenced to 35 years in prison
00:22:51
just over one year later Barbour
00:22:54
Petrosky filed a civil suit for wrongful
00:22:56
injury against Richard mins and his
00:22:58
alleged Confederates steen ivory
00:23:01
Anderson and bail before depositions
00:23:06
could be taken richard mins left the
00:23:08
country and disappeared he has been in
00:23:10
hiding ever since evading the civil suit
00:23:13
by pleading ill health
00:23:14
even though witnesses reported him
00:23:17
waterskiing in the Bahamas
00:23:20
Richard Mims remains a suspect in this
00:23:23
case unfortunately an unindicted suspect
00:23:26
in this case because we don't have
00:23:27
sufficient evidence in order to indict
00:23:30
nor try Richard Mintz for the offense
00:23:32
there have been many cases of
00:23:35
indictments returned in Harris County on
00:23:39
less evidence than the state has against
00:23:43
dick Mane's
00:23:43
I don't know why dick mince hasn't been
00:23:47
charged he should have been and no fair
00:23:50
jury that hears that case would find
00:23:54
anything other than dikmen's was
00:23:56
responsible in 1980 for the FBI in an
00:24:02
unrelated investigation tape recorded
00:24:04
Robert J Sanderson bragging about the
00:24:06
Petrovsky hit he was subsequently
00:24:09
convicted of soliciting a murder and
00:24:11
sentenced to 38 years dudley bell was
00:24:16
also arrested for soliciting a murder in
00:24:19
1987 he was convicted when one of his
00:24:21
former employees testified in court that
00:24:24
Bell had tried to hire him to kill
00:24:26
Barbara Petrovsky like anderson dudley
00:24:30
Bell was sentenced to 38 years he was
00:24:33
released on parole in 1991 after serving
00:24:35
only four and a half years
00:24:38
there's nothing new before this Court on
00:24:41
this motion and the court is noting at
00:24:43
this time and I want the record to show
00:24:44
on 17 consecutive occasions
00:24:47
Richard mins failed to appear in court
00:24:49
to respond to Barbara Petrovsky civil
00:24:51
suit already presented to this court
00:24:53
ultimately Benz was found in default and
00:24:56
a jury ordered him to pay Barbara more
00:24:58
than 50 million dollars at 58 million
00:25:01
dollars plus costs that will be all
00:25:04
gentlemen it is a civil judgment against
00:25:08
Richard men's it's a curiosity of the
00:25:10
law that one could get a civil judgment
00:25:13
against someone and not a criminal
00:25:15
judgment but that's what's happened in
00:25:17
this particular case all of the
00:25:20
responsible parties in the shooting of
00:25:22
Barbara piotrovsky have not been
00:25:24
indicted and have not been convicted and
00:25:25
sent to the penitentiary at least four
00:25:29
of them have and I think it's a
00:25:33
consensus in the DA's office and and the
00:25:36
Homicide Division that there is at least
00:25:37
one a person still there a higher person
00:25:43
than anybody else that has not been
00:25:46
indicted and has not been convicted and
00:25:48
until that happens this case will not
00:25:53
close
00:25:57
Barbara said about rebuilding her life
00:25:59
she changed her name to Jani Smith and
00:26:02
eventually moved to Ohio
00:26:04
above all she refused to accept the
00:26:07
limitations of her paralysis you cannot
00:26:11
go through something as devastating as
00:26:14
what happened to me and dwell on it you
00:26:16
cannot if you do if you dwell on it it
00:26:18
will destroy you you have to go on you
00:26:20
have to find a way to find meaning in
00:26:23
life to do something meaningful with
00:26:25
your life and I swore when I was shot
00:26:28
that if I lived through it that I would
00:26:30
find a way to make my life rewarding
00:26:32
fulfilling and productive and I've tried
00:26:35
to do that since the time of my injury
00:26:39
in 1983 Barbara
00:26:42
now Jani Smith began rehabilitation with
00:26:45
dr. Gerald Petrovsky who was
00:26:47
experimenting with a device which allows
00:26:49
a paralyzed person to walk independently
00:26:53
as collaborators they perfected the
00:26:55
system it operates by means of computer
00:26:59
induced electrical impulses today Jenny
00:27:02
Smith is president and co-founder the
00:27:04
Petrovski centers in Irvine California
00:27:06
and Scranton Pennsylvania as a nurse she
00:27:11
works personally with patients at the
00:27:13
center's especially children on November
00:27:17
30th 1991 Janney Smith and dr. Gerald
00:27:21
Petrovsky were married it was a
00:27:23
remarkable turn of events for a woman
00:27:25
who had been left paralyzed and
00:27:27
near-death by an assassin's bullet
00:27:33
Richard mins has been seen in Texas the
00:27:36
Caribbean Israel in London but is based
00:27:39
in Switzerland men's has also changed
00:27:41
his name today he goes by Richard
00:27:43
O'Toole and builds himself as an
00:27:45
international tax attorney Benz has
00:27:48
reportedly transferred all his assets
00:27:50
offshore to dummy corporations Jani
00:27:53
Smith has never collected a penny
00:28:08
[Music]
00:28:12
next the search for the heirs of an
00:28:15
elderly recluse left an estate worth
00:28:17
more than $125,000 it seems like every
00:28:34
town in America has a village recluse a
00:28:36
mysterious soul who chooses to remain
00:28:39
alone isolated from the community
00:28:42
Kathryn Bennett of Portland Oregon was
00:28:44
just such a person an eccentric nearly
00:28:47
destitute pack rat who dressed in men's
00:28:49
clothing rarely left her home and
00:28:52
refused to discuss her past with anyone
00:28:58
for years Catherine Bennett was viewed
00:29:01
with curiosity by sympathetic neighbors
00:29:03
but no one suspected that Catherine had
00:29:06
amassed a modest fortune with more than
00:29:08
125 thousand dollars but on the day she
00:29:11
died
00:29:12
Catherine Bennett was a woman with few
00:29:14
friends and no family perhaps one of our
00:29:17
viewers can help find the heir to her
00:29:19
estate
00:29:23
little is known about Catherine before
00:29:26
1941 that year she met a handsome young
00:29:29
soldier named Gilbert Bennett six months
00:29:32
later they were married after the Second
00:29:35
World War the couple settled in Portland
00:29:38
Oregon where Gilbert worked as a
00:29:39
commercial photographer Catherine became
00:29:42
his favorite subject the two shared a
00:29:48
love for the great outdoors at every
00:29:51
opportunity they would escape to the
00:29:53
unspoiled rivers of the Pacific
00:29:54
Northwest smell the fish they loved the
00:30:01
outdoor life and they fished every
00:30:03
chance yet they're very devoted to each
00:30:09
other truly they were inseparable every
00:30:16
place they went they went together and
00:30:17
they fished together and hunted together
00:30:19
and what have you
00:30:20
I'm sure that they were very much in
00:30:22
love with each other
00:30:24
[Music]
00:30:26
Gilbert and Catherine never had children
00:30:28
instead they built a loving private
00:30:31
universe for two Kathryn lavished
00:30:34
attention upon her husband her garden
00:30:36
and her pets yet she remained intensely
00:30:39
private about her past
00:30:41
she never spoke of a past and I have
00:30:44
since dokdo all my brothers or sisters
00:30:47
and they said the same thing they just
00:30:48
didn't know anything of Katies past in
00:30:53
1980 after 38 years of marriage
00:30:55
Gilbert Bennett died
00:30:58
Catherines world began to crumble when
00:31:01
she lost Gilbert she just lost
00:31:04
everything I guess and I had talked to
00:31:09
Katie concerned about her future and I
00:31:13
asked her if she had any living
00:31:15
relatives and she said no she didn't
00:31:17
have a family she was raised an orphan
00:31:19
home and she didn't know anything about
00:31:21
a family
00:31:22
[Music]
00:31:24
and she just withdrew
00:31:29
some holidays and things like this we
00:31:31
asked her to come to dinner and stuff
00:31:33
like this and she wouldn't do that and
00:31:37
we just couldn't couldn't keep in
00:31:42
contact with her too long as a result
00:31:44
this Katherine rarely left the home
00:31:49
where she and Gilbert had spent so many
00:31:51
years together in the end only the
00:31:55
charity of neighbors kept her from total
00:31:57
seclusion thank you look is there
00:32:04
anything you need mister I don't think
00:32:07
so
00:32:08
Thanks finally in June of 1990 after 10
00:32:12
years alone
00:32:13
Katherine Bennett passed away
00:32:14
[Music]
00:32:16
she was 80 years old when no blood
00:32:23
relatives could be located
00:32:25
representatives from the Oregon division
00:32:27
of state lands were dispatched to
00:32:29
Catherine's house to sort out her estate
00:32:35
almost no one had entered the house in
00:32:38
the ten years since her husband had died
00:32:48
her home was unkept it was cluttered it
00:32:51
was dirty it was flea infested it had an
00:32:58
odor It was as if a hermit had lived
00:33:01
there mr. Bennet's clothing was still
00:33:05
draped over the the back of the chairs
00:33:07
in the bedroom you could hardly even
00:33:09
walk through it it was such a mess
00:33:11
papers and bottles and trash and garbage
00:33:14
and uneaten food and she had several
00:33:17
animals cats there was cat food
00:33:19
everywhere and cat food tents and the
00:33:21
fleas were unreal you could just feel
00:33:24
them all over you as you walked in they
00:33:25
just it was it was really bad our first
00:33:30
job is to locate a will or locate heirs
00:33:34
and when we entered a home we quickly
00:33:36
sift through the personal papers looking
00:33:38
for letters insurance policies anything
00:33:41
that might lead to an heir the
00:33:44
investigators never did find a will but
00:33:47
they were surprised to discover that
00:33:48
despite the surroundings Catherine
00:33:50
Bennett was anything but destitute they
00:33:53
came across unopened social security
00:33:55
checks dating back to 1981 and valued at
00:33:58
more than $30,000 in addition to a large
00:34:02
amount of loose change they found a
00:34:04
number of rare coins worth $1,500
00:34:07
finally investigators discovered that
00:34:10
catherine has scrolled away nearly sixty
00:34:12
thousand dollars in two separate bank
00:34:14
accounts after her house was sold the
00:34:17
value of Catherine's estate rose to more
00:34:19
than one hundred and twenty five
00:34:21
thousand dollars
00:34:24
officials in Oregon have launched an
00:34:26
extensive search for Catherine's heirs
00:34:28
because her husband is dead state law
00:34:31
requires at the estate go to the nearest
00:34:33
blood relative but complicates a
00:34:36
settling of Catherine's estate is a fact
00:34:38
that almost nothing is known about her
00:34:39
past and much of what is known is
00:34:42
fraught with contradiction catherine
00:34:47
Bennett was born in Kansas City Kansas
00:34:48
in 1910 she once told her in-laws as she
00:34:52
was raised in a Catholic orphanage after
00:34:55
the death of her parents
00:34:56
however in a document notarized in 1945
00:34:59
three years after she was married
00:35:01
Catherine presented a completely
00:35:03
different story about her life she
00:35:06
declared that her father had died prior
00:35:07
to her birth but their mother was still
00:35:10
alive and married to Joseph Fay back of
00:35:12
Kansas City the document also made
00:35:15
mention of a brother named Martin yata
00:35:17
beech
00:35:28
[Music]
00:35:45
on a previous broadcast we brought you
00:35:48
the baffling case of Alex Cooper a
00:35:50
devoted husband and father of five were
00:35:53
disappeared without a trace in April of
00:35:57
1987 Cooper's car was discovered
00:36:00
abandoned a few miles from his home in
00:36:02
British Columbia Canada despite a
00:36:05
massive search no sign of him was ever
00:36:07
found
00:36:08
a year later Alex Cooper was legally
00:36:13
declared dead birth certificate on his
00:36:19
wife Margaret tried to obtain his birth
00:36:20
certificate she made an unsettling
00:36:22
discovery there were no official records
00:36:25
in the name of her husband prior to
00:36:27
their marriage in 1952 as far as anyone
00:36:30
could tell Alice Cooper simply did not
00:36:33
and had never existed
00:36:38
four years after he vanished authorities
00:36:40
learned that Alex Cooper was alive and
00:36:42
well and living in Toronto Canada but
00:36:45
before he could be questioned Cooper
00:36:47
disappeared again I'd love to get him
00:36:50
back I want to give him a real big hug
00:36:52
and then I kind of want to give him a
00:36:54
kick in the butt and then another big
00:36:57
hugger he's got this family that care
00:37:00
about him and if he's out there living
00:37:03
among strangers he should rethink this
00:37:07
thing we deserve it
00:37:09
that's how does he who was Alex Cooper
00:37:14
why are you soon dan alias and in
00:37:16
essence lived a lie for more than 35
00:37:19
years
00:37:21
shortly after this story aired a viewer
00:37:24
in Hamilton Canada recognized Alex
00:37:26
Cooper and immediately called
00:37:28
authorities during questioning the
00:37:30
mystery surrounding his life began to
00:37:33
unravel
00:37:35
Alex Cooper told police that his true
00:37:37
name was Alban Arsenal in 1948 he was
00:37:41
accused of robbing an office of the
00:37:43
Canadian Pacific Railroad where he was
00:37:45
employed at the time I was young and I
00:37:49
panicked and I said to myself there is
00:37:52
no way I'm going to be take the fall for
00:37:55
this because I didn't do it I took off
00:38:00
at that time and I became Alexander
00:38:04
Hooper at that point four years later
00:38:07
Alex married Margaret he had no idea
00:38:10
that any criminal charges that might
00:38:11
have been filed against him had probably
00:38:13
been dropped for more than 35 years his
00:38:17
true identity remained a secret then as
00:38:20
a 65th birthday neared Alice Cooper's
00:38:23
past began to catch up
00:38:26
I was due for pension and you require to
00:38:29
submit a birth certificate I knew I
00:38:34
couldn't produce one several months
00:38:38
prior to this I knew this was coming up
00:38:40
I couldn't bring myself a boat to tell
00:38:44
my family so I walked away it was a snap
00:38:49
decision and it was wrong
00:38:55
two days after he is questioned by
00:38:58
Hamilton authorities
00:38:59
Alex Cooper returned to British Columbia
00:39:01
and was reunited with his family after
00:39:04
more than five years we were very close
00:39:08
family must have been very devastating
00:39:10
for all of us and I'm really hoping that
00:39:17
we can work through this and put it back
00:39:20
together if not the way it is maybe
00:39:22
something better we can't pick up where
00:39:26
we left off because things have changed
00:39:29
but we're gonna start fresh take it a
00:39:31
day at a time the way I feel I don't
00:39:35
deserve for anyway to accept my apology
00:39:40
look what I done abandonment of your
00:39:45
family to me is one hell of a crime and
00:39:50
the biggest job for me at this point
00:39:53
will be to make amends and I would say
00:39:56
it would probably take me the rest of my
00:39:59
life
00:39:59
[Music]
00:40:07
[Music]
00:40:12
several months ago we profiled the case
00:40:14
of Charles Morgan who was found dead in
00:40:16
the remote Arizona desert he had been
00:40:19
shot once in the back of the head the
00:40:21
local sheriff's department ruled his
00:40:23
death a suicide
00:40:24
even though the medical examiner
00:40:26
classified it as unsolved Isis in the
00:40:29
segment we interviewed Arizona
00:40:31
journalist Don Devereaux who discovered
00:40:33
evidence that Morgan had been part of an
00:40:35
elaborate money-laundering operation
00:40:36
involving huge amounts of gold Devereaux
00:40:40
Belize Morgan did not commit suicide
00:40:42
but was a victim of a professional
00:40:44
contract killing when the segment aired
00:40:48
we received hundreds of calls relating
00:40:50
to Morgan's death according to Devereaux
00:40:53
who continued his investigation many
00:40:55
turned out to be productive leads three
00:40:59
months later a draftsman at a Phoenix
00:41:01
computer company Doug Johnston was found
00:41:04
dead in his car outside his office
00:41:06
Johnston had been shot once behind the
00:41:09
ear and police have suggested it was
00:41:11
impossible suicide
00:41:13
curiously Johnson worked across the
00:41:15
street from Don Devereaux's office and
00:41:17
drove a car that almost exactly matched
00:41:19
Devereaux's in fact Devereaux is now
00:41:22
convinced the bullet which killed Doug
00:41:24
Johnston was intended for him I got a
00:41:27
phone call from a journalist friend of
00:41:30
mine from Washington DC who had been
00:41:34
briefed by a high-level CIA official
00:41:36
that in fact that was a botched hit that
00:41:40
some people thought they were hitting me
00:41:43
when they shot the guy across the street
00:41:45
and in fact there was a still a contract
00:41:50
outstanding and it was coming around
00:41:51
again but whatever I had done was still
00:41:55
a problem to someone to others sources
00:41:58
and the intelligence community have
00:42:00
confirmed that Don Devereaux that he is
00:42:01
a target for murder
00:42:03
and that the next attempt will be made
00:42:04
to look like an accident we'll bring you
00:42:07
a full report on this intriguing case in
00:42:09
the near future join me next time for
00:42:19
another intriguing edition unsolved
00:42:22
mysteries
00:42:28
[Music]
00:43:05
you
00:43:06
[Music]
